While most states allow bobcat hunting, New Hampshire has not since 1989, when the animal's population had dwindled to dangerously low levels. Now this week, the Fish and Game Commission will vote whether to allow a limited annual hunt of 50 bobcats. We examine what's driving the support and the opposition, which has been fierce, and how this debate exposes broader cultural divides.
Guests:
- Sam Evans Brown, environment reporter for NHPR.
- Dan Teague, Hillsborough County director for the NH Trappers Association.
- Rick Van de Poll, wildlife biologist and principal of Ecosystem Management Consultants of New England. He has studied a variety of wildlife populations across North America.
- John Litvaitis, wildlife ecology professor at UNH. He worked on a cooperative project with the NH Fish and Game Department studying the bobcat's health, population, and their movement throughout the southwest part of the state.
Read more:
- UPDATE: follow-up report on Fish and Game's vote to pass the proposal to allow hunting, 5-to-4
- Where Fish and Game gets its funding, and how it spends it.
- More NHPR reporting on the proposal's background
- A Something Wild program about the bobcat's comeback
